23 Facts About Allen DuMont

1.

Allen DuMont was born in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of Lillian Felton and William Henry Beaman Allen DuMont.

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2.

Allen DuMont's father bought him a crystal radio receiver, which he assembled, took apart, reassembled and rebuilt several times.

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3.

Allen DuMont graduated from Montclair High School in 1919, and went to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, where he was part of the Alpha chapter of the Theta Xi fraternity.

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4.

In 1915, Allen DuMont became the youngest American to obtain a first class commercial radio operator's license at age 14.

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5.

Allen DuMont was involved in the first television transmissions from W2XCD in Passaic.

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6.

Allen DuMont worked to improve television transmission and reception and went to De Forest asking for funds to build a long-lasting cathode ray tube for television reception.

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7.

Subsequently, Allen DuMont resigned at the same time that De Forest sold his radio manufacturing business to David Sarnoff at RCA.

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8.

Allen DuMont had developed an improved version of the cathode ray tube which was both cheaper to produce and was longer-lasting than the German tubes used at that time; the imported tubes had a life of 25 to 30 hours.

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9.

Allen DuMont started his own company, Allen B DuMont Laboratories, in the basement of his Upper Montclair home, building long-lasting cathode ray tubes.

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10.

Since Allen DuMont was a leader in cathode ray tube or CRT design and manufacturing, it was a natural step to use the CRT as a visual measuring instrument or oscilloscope.

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11.

Allen DuMont was one of the earliest designers of the trigger sweep oscilloscope using a gas thyratron vacuum tube .

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12.

Allen DuMont tried it and was impressed, but commented to Howard Vollum and Jack Murdock, co-founders of Tektronix that it was too expensive and they would be lucky to sell any.

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13.

Allen DuMont became Group General Manager of the DuMont Division, until his death in 1965.

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14.

In 1932, Allen DuMont proposed a "ship finder" device to the United States Army Signal Corps at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, that used radio wave distortions to locate objects on a cathode ray tube screen, a type of radar.

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15.

In 1932, Allen DuMont invented the magic eye tube known as the Electron Ray Tube, used as a tuning accessory in radios and as a level meter in mono and stereo home reel-to-reel tape recorders.

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16.

Allen DuMont released information on his invention the following year.

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17.

Allen DuMont produced black and white televisions in the late 1930s, 1940s and 1950s that were generally regarded as offering highest quality and durability.

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18.

Allen DuMont sold his television manufacturing division to Emerson Radio in 1958, and sold the remainder of the company to Fairchild Camera in 1960.

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19.

Allen DuMont was the first to provide funding for educational television broadcasting.

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20.

Allen DuMont was the recipient of numerous honorary degrees and awards, among them the Cross of Knight awarded by the French Government, the Horatio Alger Award, the Westinghouse Award, and the DeForest Medal.

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21.

Allen DuMont is a holder of over 30 patents in cathode ray tubes and other television equipment.

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22.

Allen DuMont would participate in boat races and compete in navigation skills competition, winning three national championships.

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23.

Allen DuMont was survived by his wife Ethel and their two children, Allen Jr.

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